Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

Get it? It’s a play on words. Like because Stonehenge is awesome and made of rock. I’ll be here all week, folks.

On a less cheesy note, Stonehenge really was a great experience. I had done some research prior to visiting, so I was already well aware that no one really knows anything definite about the place. The fantastic audio tour confirmed that. All we know is that the oldest rocks are about 5000 years old and that separate sections were built in phases spanning thousands of years. Otherwise, no one actually knows what purpose Stonehenge served. Speculations run the gamut from astronomy to human sacrifice to showing off how many giant π‘s one could build out of gigantic rocks. Maybe not the last one so much, but then again, who knows?

πππππππ

The first phase of building dates back five millenia as an earthwork called a “henge.” No rocks were in place yet, just big ditches dug with primitive tools most likely made from bones and antlers. A few thousand years later in about 2000 BC, the first group of stones, known as “bluestones,” were placed in a configuration now known as the inner circle. Seeing how each of the rocks weigh an upwards of 4 tons and are from a mountain 250 miles away, transportation must have been a pain.

Bluestones in the middle

The outer stones, known as “sarsens” weigh something like 50 tons. How on earth could humans move rocks of that magnitude 3000 years ago? It absolutely blows my mind that what humans can accomplish, regardless of how primitive technology might have been. It is estimated that an upwards of 600 men were used to transport each rock. The sarsens were placed in holes in a parallel formation to accommodate large stone lintels placed on top.

Post and lintel formation

Other than that, Stonehenge is a complete mystery. My favorite theory comes from the time of King Arthur. Legend has it that the a treasonous Saxon leader massacred 300 British noblemen. The great wizard Merlin decided that Stonehenge would be a great burial ground, so he called for the huge stones to be transported to the site from Ireland. The Britons weren’t strong enough to move them, he used the magic arts to help them out. But how did the rocks get to Ireland in the first place? Giants brought them from Africa of course!

The few short hours we spent at Stonehenge were enlightening. It was a perfect follow up to my epiphany at Westminster about the boundless capability of human minds and hands harnessing the power of reason (Merlin story notwithstanding).